New York Yankees designated hitter and first baseman Edwin Encarnacion will be heading to the IL, continuing the Yankees unfortunate luck in terms of injuries in 2019.
Encarnacion was hit in the 8th inning of the Yankees 9-2 win over the Boston Red Sox in the matinee game of a split doubleheader, and was taken to New York Presbyterian Hospital for testing. There, it was revealed that he had a wrist fracture, the same injury that Aaron Judge had last season.
Aaron Boone said between the two games of the doubleheader that he would be going on the IL, but it won’t be official until Sunday. Mike Ford will be recalled from AAA to fill the roster spot.
The plan for the meantime is that the team will wait 7 to 10 days before re-evaluating Encarnacion. From there, the team will set a training and rehab plan if he is ready to resume baseball activities.
Encarnacion notched three hits and drove in two runs in the game, raising his season average to .240. He sits at 30 home runs and has driven in 76 runs in his 15th career season.
Hopefully, Encarnacion won’t miss much time and can start making an impact soon. With now two first basemen down, the team will lean on guys like Mike Ford and Breyvic Valera to fill the holes until either Voit or Encarnacion is healthy. It is so crucial that Encarnacion is healthy for the playoffs, and the team needs to make that their priority. If he misses the rest of the regular season, so be it. If the team can be healthy enough to win 11 games in October, that’s all that matters.